Shyt List 3 (The Cartel Publications Presents)

by Reign (T. Styles)

“And so do I. I wanna be wit’ you too, Bricks. Don’t do this to me.”

  “I can’t leave the girl stranded, Yvonna. I have to say something to her.”

  “Why can’t you leave her stranded?” she frowned. “You was about to kick me and my baby to the curb the other night. What’s the difference?”

  “Let me take care of this situation and I promise, we can work it out. I just don’t want us to start off wrong.”

  “Do you like her?” He didn’t respond. “You like her. Oh my God I’m such a fuckin’ fool!”

  “Yvonna stop trippin’! I’m starting to believe you really are crazy.” That hurt her more than he could ever know.

  “You know what,” she said grabbing her baby, “fuck you and fuck this house!”

  “I’m sorry! I shouldna said that.”

  “I shared something with you that fucks wit’ me every day and you threw it in my face! You ain’t nothin’ but a bum as nigga!”

  “I said I was sorry but look how you actin’!”

  “How you sound, Bricks? The one nigga I try to give my heart to for real runs games on me. Maybe I’m more woman than you can handle. After all, you was fuckin’ wit’ a bitch wit’ rubber titties.” Just when she said that, a light bulb went off in her head. “Or was it a man? You fuckin’ men now, Bricks?”

  “Fuck you, bitch! I want you out my fuckin’ house!”

  “Tell me somethin’ you haven’t said twenty times already, fuckin’ faggot!”

  “If you didn’t have that baby wit’ you, I’d drop your ass.”

  “And you’d get dropped back, bitch ass nigga!” She screamed.

  He looked at Delilah and stomped down the stairs, slamming the door behind him. But the moment he hit the bottom step, something in his body told him something wasn’t right. He hadn’t been in the basement since he came home with Melvin and that was a bad move.

  “What’s up, Bricks?” Swoopes said holding a gun with a silencer attached. “Fancy meeting you here.”

  Bricks had left his weapon on the table upstairs, a move he’d soon regret. “Sounds like you’re having a lover’s spat upstairs. Ya’ll cool?”

  “You not gonna make it outta here alive.”

  “Sure I will. You see, you just got into it wit’ Yvonna so your family’s going to think she did it. I mean, ain’t you got some broad you bringing over here later?” he smiled. “That would be a perfect reason for Yvonna to kill you.”

  “They not gonna believe that shit.”

  “Sure they will. And just like earlier when your whole crew left the block to protect you when you went to Bet’s hotel, they gonna all leave to go find Yvonna. And I’ll walk out as smoothly as I came in. And then I’ma sit in the cut and wait for your family to kill Yvonna for me. I was hoping to get both of you myself but this is better. It’s the perfect plan.”

  Bricks was about to lunge at him when Swoopes unloaded four bullets silently into his chest. And as he did earlier, Swoopes hid within the darkness of the basement.

  Upstairs Yvonna didn’t hear a thing and was too busy caught up in her rage. Once she picked up her things, she grabbed her baby and ran into Melvin on the way out of Brick’s house.

  “You leaving so early?” he asked speaking to her for the first time.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not fuckin’ wit’ your brother ever again!” She yelled. “So you don’t have to worry ‘bout me!”

  Melvin looked at her, shook his head and walked into the house. “That bitch crazy.” He said walking inside, only to find his brother slumped on the basement floor.

  Knight and Shining Doctor

  Yvonna woke up the next morning with an extreme headache. But luckily for her, she had doctor Terrell to take care of her. He had gotten a nice hotel for she and Delilah and he stayed with them. He knew Jona would be angry but he no longer gave a fuck about her and wasn’t playing games. He wanted to be with Yvonna and that was the bottom line.

  “You hungry?” he asked rolling over to kiss her softly on the lips.

  “Yes. And can you get me some Tylenol too? I have a terrible headache.”

  Terrell kissed her gently on the face, got dressed and fetched her food and medicine. The moment he left the room, she reached for her cell phone. Although she knew she wasn’t supposed to power it on, because Swoopes could track her, she still wanted to see if Bricks called. She missed him already and hoped he missed her too. When the phone was on, she saw she had five missed voice messages. Three were from a funny number with the plus symbol between the digits and she knew immediately it was Ming calling from China. She decided to listen to hers first.

  “You must call, Ming as soon as possible. My uncle told me of great problem in New York and he’s very angry with me.”

  The second message said, “Do you know where Darcus is? Ming must speak to one of you right away. This is serious.”

  The third message said, “Ming is on her way home from China. Please be at my house by 12:00am. We must speak. Uncle Yao is very angry.”

  After she listened to those messages she listened to a fourth message where her sister was crying uncontrollably on the phone. She made mental notes to put her at ease about their argument, after she got a new phone.

  But it was the fifth message that caused her heart to jump out of her chest.

  “For what you did to my brother, bitch, you gonna pay. You betta jump off of a bridge because it’ll be easier than what I’m gonna do to you.”

  She leaped off of the bed and paced the floor. She had no idea what he was talking about but she knew whatever happened, Melvin thought she was to blame. Could this mean something happened to Bricks between the time she last saw him and the morning? But how could it? He had 24-hour security at all times protecting him. So she made one last call to Tina.

  “What do you want?” Tina said evilly.

  “Listen, I don’t know what’s going on, but I would never do anything to hurt Bricks and I know you know that. So can you please tell me what’s happening?”

  Tina paused and said, “He was shot.” Yvonna felt for a wall behind her where there was none and stumbled to the floor. “And Melvin said you were the last one who saw him, and that you were mad at him when you left his house.”

  “Please…please tell me this isn’t true.” She sobbed unable to defend herself against the impossible accusation. She had killed a lot of people in her day, but she never wanted to do anything but love Bricks. “I need for you to tell me that this isn’t true, Tina. Tell me somebody didn’t hurt my Bricks.”

  “I wish it wasn’t true,” she cried, “but it is.”

  “Is he…is he…” the words couldn’t leave her mouth. “Is he…dead?”

  “No.” Yvonna exhaled and thanked God for the huge favor. “Where is he?”

  “Why should I trust you?”

  “Because I love him. And if you guys think I did hurt him, it will be easier for you to get me if I turn myself over to you. I just need to see his face. Please.” Tina didn’t need convincing, she believed her the moment she called.

  “We at the Washington Hospital Center. Room 318.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  ~~~~~

  Yvonna told Terrell she had something to do and begged him to care for Delilah and he gladly obliged. She ran into the hospital and onto the wing where Bricks was. The moment she hit the floor, there were about thirty people in attendance leaning on the hospital walls all there for Bricks. And they all had one thing in common, extreme hate for Yvonna. They lined the walls until she got closer to Bricks room. Standing up straight they turned toward her ready to attack. But there was one person in particular, someone she hadn’t seen before, who raised his shirt showing the handle of his weapon that frightened her. On his arm was a tattoo that read, ‘Kelsi AKA K-Man loves you Ma. RIP.’

  Kelsi was just about to blast on her when Melvin said, “Leave her alone. She’s mine.”

  Standing beside Kelsi was a pretty girl with almond colored skin and a thick
body. Yvonna knew she was the girl who came to visit Bricks. Not caring who was present she walked up to Melvin with blood red eyes and fell at his feet. “Kill me!” she sobbed. “I’m so fuckin’ tired of death that I don’t care about my life anymore.” Her stomach jerked so much that it knotted up in pain. “I love him too, Melvin! And I would never do anything to hurt him. Not Bricks. I’m sorry for bringing Swoopes into his life. Please forgive me or kill me.” Melvin looked down at her and out at his family.

  “Why is she here?” Carmen asked crying too. “This is all her fault!”

  “You don’t know shit about me!” Yvonna stood up and walked over to her. “I’ve been through more shit wit’ that man than you’ll ever know!”

  Kelsi put his hand out in front of him and said, “I don’t know what’s goin’ on, but my peoples in there fucked up and I ain’t feelin’ this soap opera shit. So I’ma need you to back the fuck up before you get me outta character.”

  Yvonna turned around to Melvin and said, “It wasn’t me. I need you to know that it wasn’t me.”

  The moment he looked into her eyes, he knew that she couldn’t possibly hurt Bricks. He was just about to speak when Tina ran into the hallway from Brick’s room and said, “He opened his eyes. He opened his eyes!”

  Although everyone had a head start to get into the room before her, Yvonna was able to wiggle herself to his bedside. There were so many people inside the small space that you could barely see the white walls. But when Bricks eye’s focused he saw Yvonna and reached out for her.

  “Squeeze,” she gripped his hand. “Do…y…you know h…how much shit you got me into?”

  Yvonna couldn’t laugh and instead she burst into tears. “I’m sooo sorry, baby. I never meant for this to happen.”

  “I’m, okay.” When she wouldn’t stop crying he grabbed her hand as hard as he could and said, “I’m okay. But I need you to listen,” he whispered. “You…gotta be careful. The only thing that kept me alive was thinking ‘bout you and I can’t stand to lose you again.” Hearing that, Carmen stormed out of the room.

  “Excuse me!” the doctor yelled from the doorway. “I have to see the patient and there are too many people in here. He suffered severe wounds to his chest cavity and could have died! I must check on him. Please get out of my way.”

  “Calm down, doc,” Melvin said placing a hand firmly on his shoulder. “This a family matter so give us one minute.”

  The frightened white doctor said, “Okay. One minute and then you’re all out of here!”

  Melvin shooed him away and said, “The bitch ass doctor gonna put us out. But before I leave, I need to know what happened.”

  “Swoopes.” He said looking up at Melvin. “He…he was in the house when we came home from Bet’s hotel and I ain’t know. He was in there when the ambulance came to get me too. I tried to tell ya’ll but the words couldn’t come out.”

  Melvin’s eyebrows pulled together and his face-hardened. “That nigga was in your crib while I was there?” He said hitting his chest.

  Bricks had already used up more of his energy than he had in him to speak so he nodded instead. Thinking of almost losing Bricks because of Swoopes once again, caused a fury to brew inside of Yvonna. Transformed she turned around and rushed out of the room.

  “M…Melvin, don’t let him hurt her.” Bricks said reaching out for him. “Don’t let him kill my shawty. Watch her for me…P…please.”

  “You know I got it lil brah.”

  Melvin tried his best to keep up with her but Yvonna couldn’t be caught. Her feet caught wheels as she ran out of the hospital. There was so much rage in her heart that she could taste how good it would feel to kill Swoopes. But when she walked out of the hospital door, someone was waiting on her instead.

  Uncle Yao

  A black Lincoln Navigator Limousine covered the entrance of the hospital. It was the same limo that visited Ming right down to the driver with the missing ear.

  “Yvonna,” the well-dressed driver said, “Uncle Yao wants to speak to you. Please, come inside.”

  Yvonna’s heart paced as she thought about how she could get out of the offer. She soon realized she couldn’t. “I…really can’t come now. Maybe I can make an appointment with him later.”

  “You can, and you will see him now,” the driver said. “Next time I won’t ask so nicely.”

  Yvonna eased inside and saw a handsome older Chinese man wearing a crisp black designer suit. She was also surprised to see that the inside of the limo was completely white. “So…you drink?” Uncle Yao asked in a thick accent.

  “No.” Yvonna said sliding into one of the plush leather seats.

  “You do today,” he said as the driver pulled off. Yvonna accepted the drink and ran her finger around the rim of the glass. “So…I hear great things about you from my niece.” He said with a smile. “And then, I hear bad things about you from my New York friend. Why is that?”

  She was debating on whether to lie to a man that she was certain could read her mind. “Darcus did something to the package before he took it to the connect. I think he did it at a truck stop and I knew something wasn’t right, so I snapped a picture of him going inside with the bag. I overheard him later saying to someone on the phone how he could sell the packages himself. So when he didn’t come back out after the drop, I got scared and left. I found the packages he stuffed under the seat, and have them right here,” she said holding her purse.

  Yao extended his hands and she gave them to him. “You are good liar.” Yvonna’s mouth dropped in surprise that he found her out. “But you’re really cunning. To think you can think of such a ridiculous story, and that I’d believe you, makes you valuable to me. You virtually without fear, although you shouldn’t be.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Do you know who I am?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you know how dangerous I am?”

  “I’ve heard how dangerous you can be.”

  “Good, then I don’t have to spend a lot of time telling you how serious I am. I get what I want, and what I want is for you to work for me. To kill for me when I need you. You can get into places I can’t by your looks and your ability to seduce.”

  “What? I can’t do that. I’m a mother and I have to care for my daughter.”

  “So you don’t want to be alive long enough to see her grow?” he asked shooting her an evil stare.

  “Yes. Yes. I do.”

  “Good.”

  Yvonna looked out of the window and stared back at him. She hated being forced to do anything and she was beyond angry. “Is that all?”

  “No. Darcus was delivered to us, alive by my New York friend. And before I killed him personally, he left this message for you.”

  Yao removed a white paper from his pocket. Within it was another paper with a number on it. It was stained in blood. Yvonna immediately recognized the number and felt a jolt pierce through her stomach. She had left that number next to her husband Dave’s bedside, the day she killed him in Jamaica. She was trying to throw the Jamaican police off of her trail, by setting the weed connect up instead. That connect was Darcus.

  “He said, ‘Yvonna, I underestimated you, and for that, I will pay with me life. You framed me twice in this lifetime. First for the murder of your husband Dave, in me country Jamaica, and second with our trip to New York. I was locked up for two years in Jamaica, until they finally realized there wasn’t enough evidence to hold me. I never told them ‘bout you, because I wanted you for meself. And although I didn’t get me vengeance now, I will most certainly see you in hell.’

  “Believe it or not,” Yao started, “before we took this letter from him, I was going to kill you too. Because like I said, I believe you are involved. But, when on his dying day he chose not to speak to a member of family, as is tradition in my country, but to write letter to you instead, it intrigued me. Greatly. I’m sure we will work good together. And I’m going to teach you everything there is to know about Wushu a
nd how to kill without a trace. You will be my prodigy.”

  Yvonna was speechless. She would have never guessed that the man, who shared a bed with her on a night she couldn’t remember, was also the man she tried to frame for her husband’s death.

  “You might as well ask him to take care of Swoopes,” Gabriella said sitting next to her. “I think he sees your value and would do anything to keep you. Work it for what you can.”

  “Uncle Yao,” Yvonna said seductively.

  “Please…call me Yao.” He said flirtatiously.

  “Yao…I have someone I need you to take care of, if I’m gonna be a good employee I can’t worry about him hurting people I love.”

  Yao smiled and said, “Always the cunning one. Give me his name and we will rid you of him immediately.”

  “Thank you,” She smiled and sat back in her seat.

  She couldn’t wait to see the look on his face, when he discovered she had China on her side.

  A Month Later

  Yvonna sat in her expensive condominium overlooking Baltimore city in a development called Silo Point. The sun lit up the water and sparkled against the windows of the buildings. She exhaled and took in what was the beginning of her new life.

  After all of the drama with Swoopes, she was in need of a change of address. As she walked onto her balcony, she tugged at her designer pink robe and smiled. She was really on top of the world.

  “What you lookin’ at baby?” Bricks asked walking up behind her, placing his arms around her waist.

  “The city. I didn’t even know Baltimore could be so pretty.”

  “Yeah…I can’t believe you moved all the way out here. You know us D.C. boys don’t get down wit’ these Baltimore cats like that.”

  “Are you sure you don’t rep Bmore now instead? You be here every day.”

  He laughed and said, “I walked right into that. But look,” he said releasing her. “I gotta go. Have you given any thought to us? Workin’ at it again?”

  “Bricks, I think it’s best if we remain friends. It seems everybody I care about, gets hurt one way or another.”